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A long essay or dissertation or thesis involving personal research, written by postgraduates of University of Ghana for a university degree.
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Item COVID-19, Chronic Conditions and Structural Poverty: A Social Psychological Assessment of the Needs of a Marginalized Community in Accra, Ghana(Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2021) Aikins, G.; Baatiema, L.; Asante, P.Y.; et.alIn the African region COVID-19 infection and death rates are increasing (writing in May 2020), most deaths have occurred among individuals with chronic conditions, and poor communities face higher risks of infection and socioeconomic insecurities. We assessed the psychosocial needs of a chronic illness support group in Accra, Ghana, within the context of their broader community. The community lives in structural poverty and has a complex burden of infectious and chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Between March and May 2020, we conducted interviews, group discussions, and surveys, with members of the support group and their caregivers, frontline healthcare workers, and religious and community leaders. Data was analyzed through the social psychology of participation framework. Community members understood COVID-19 as a new public health threat and drew on eclectic sources of information to make sense of this. Members of the support group had psychosocial and material needs: they were anxious about infection risk as well as money, food, and access to NCD treatment. Some community members received government food packages during the lockdown period. This support ended after lockdown in April and while anti-poverty COVID policies have been unveiled they have yet to be implemented. We discuss the impact of these representational, relational, and power dynamics on the community’s access to COVID-19 and NCD support. We argue that strategies to address the immediate and post-COVID needs of vulnerable communities have to focus on the politics and practicalities of implementing existing rights-based policies that intersect health, poverty reduction, and social protection.Item Urban social assistance: Evidence, challenges and the way forward, with application to Ghana(Development Policy Review, 2020) Cuesta, J.; Abdulai, A.G.; Devereux, S.; et.alMotivation: Urban areas are growing as is urban poverty, yet few countries have developed comprehensive programmes for social assistance in urban areas. Those programmes that exist, moreover, are often extensions or duplicates of rural schemes. Urban social protection needs to reflect the distinct characteristics and vulnerabilities of the urban poor, especially since they usually work in informal activities and face higher living costs than rural dwellers. Purpose: This article addresses two questions: what is the current evidence on effective social assistance programmes in urban areas? How can such programmes be designed and implemented in practice? The article surveys the challenges of designing social assistance programmes in urban areas, focusing on specific urban vulnerabilities, targeting the urban poor, and setting appropriate payments. Approach and methods: Existing evidence on programmes for urban social assistance, including cases from seven countries, are reviewed. Issues are examined in detail for Ghana, a rapidly urbanizing country. Findings: Ghana’s flagship social assistance programme, Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), which operates largely in rural areas, can and should be adjusted to urban areas. Registration by using community leaders is less effective in urban than rural areas. Instead, advertising, (social) media, direct text messaging, and identification through local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) would be better options. Targeting can be improved by developing an urban-specific proxy means test. Cash benefits should be increased, and then adjusted regularly to counter inflation. These benefits should possibly be accompanied by subsidies for utilities and services. Policy implications: Several principles to consider when designing urban social assistance emerge. Benefit levels should reflect higher living costs in urban areas and respond to inflation, especially for food and other necessities. Urban social assistance should go beyond cash transfers to focus on generating jobs (especially for young people and women), and to ensure basic services such as health care reach the urban poor, through subsidies, vouchers, or case management. Urban contexts also offer more opportunities to deliver and target social assistance through digital technologies such as mobile phones and automatic teller machines (ATM).Item Antiretroviral therapy maintenance among HIV-positive women in Ghana: the influence of poverty(AIDS Care, 2019) Poku, R.A.; Owusu, A.Y.; Mullen, P.D.; et.alThis study examines the role of poverty in the acquisition of and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and prescribed clinical follow-up regimens among HIV-positive women. We conducted in-depth interviews with 40 women living with HIV (WLHIV) in Ghana and 15 stakeholders with a history of work in HIV-focused programs. Our findings indicate that financial difficulty contributed to limited ability to maintain treatment, the recommended nutrient-rich diet, and clinical follow-up schedules. However, enacted stigma and concurrent illness of family members also influenced the ability of the WLHIV to generate income; therefore, HIV infection itself contributed to poverty. To further examine the relationship between finances, ART adherence, and the maintenance of recommended clinical follow-up, we present the perspectives of several HIV-positive peer counselor volunteers in Ghana’s Models of Hope program. We recommend that programs to combat stigma continue to be implemented, as decreased stigma may reduce the financial difficulties of HIV-positive individuals. We also recommend enhancing current support programs to better assist peer counselor volunteers, as their role directly supports Ghana’s national strategic HIV/AIDS plan. Finally, additional investment in poverty-reduction across Ghana, such as broadening meal assistance beyond the currently limited food programs, would lighten the load of those struggling to combat HIV and meet basic needs.